What Remained Behind
by Dark Maria
Summary: ROTF redone. Part Six of Fair Winds of Cybertron. When you let go of your anger and your hate, where does it go? Featuring marooned Decepticons, a group of accidental creations, and the rise of an ancient evil... Read and review, please.
1. New friends and a new threat

AUTHOR NOTE: Read this at 1/2 story width. That's the way it's supposed to look.

Anyway, here it is… My take on Revenge of the Fallen!

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What Remained Behind

The first inkling the group got that anything was wrong besides the bizarre transmission Bumblebee had told Jazz about came in the form of another transmission… this one taking the form of radio chatter detailing a bizarre chase through the streets of Salem, Oregon. "I'll tell you what I'm hearing," Jazz said as they continued south. "Apparently we've got a car with no passengers tearing through the city, but the weird thing is it's traveling with a construction crane… and those things are supposed to be downright slow! This doesn't sound like anything humans are capable of. But wait, it gets better. Wait until you hear what's chasing them! Would you believe not just another car but three semi-identical motorcycles and a slagging _ice cream truck?!_" All was quiet for a moment before Zephyr spoke up from where she soared beside her mate. "Hey, I'm picking up a couple energy signatures from the running guys… Two Decepticons, still transmitting the old allegiance codes. Apparently these bozos think the war is still on." Given a moment to process that information, Optimus chose that moment to speak up. "Everyone, pull over. Zephyr, I'm going to need you to switch over to being Sarah. These 'new' Decepticons must know something we don't if they're willing to risk literally _everything_ by continuing the war." Choosing a heavily forested area, the convoy pulled over long enough for Zephyr to land and transform. Optimus initially insisted that she ride with him so he could protect her, but Megatron interrupted his brother by landing nearby and opening his cockpit canopy. _He_ would be the one to protect his mate, thank you very much. A moment's thought assured the two of them that Megatron was indeed the right person for the job. Even Optimus couldn't possibly hope to match him when it came to sheer strength, and to top it all off he could fly. Once that little dispute was done, the convoy swiftly began to make its way toward the streets of downtown Salem.

One was down by the time they arrived; the car, which was easily identified as Sideways, had already been neutralized by whatever forces had been doing the chasing. With one target down, the chase focused on the other; the construction crane, which had already transformed into its normal form and was at that very moment trundling down the main drag, a colossal _unicycle_ from the waist down. Speeding toward an intersecting bridge whose length overshadowed the road the rogue Decepticon was traveling toward, Optimus himself headed in to try to stop him, even despite the fact that he was as tiny as a kitten in comparison. Any words he may have spoken were lost in an all-consuming roar as, rather than stop or even slow down upon seeing him there, the rogue Decepticon, whom Megatron immediately identified as Demolisher, simply plowed straight through the bridge itself, forcing the not quite surprised Optimus to jump for his very life, catching hold of one titanic arm and swinging like a red and blue monkey. This wasn't part of the plan, but then again they hadn't had much of a plan coming into this fight…

"_Optimus!" _The silver jet wasn't sure if he had shouted or if it had been his passenger. "Megatron, you've got to get down there and help him!" Sarah's face was pressed up against the glass of his canopy, a touch that would have excited him under normal circumstances. "I can't, Sarah… I have to protect _you!_" Hearing that, she settled back in her seat, seeming to accept his words. "Not for long." He was about to ask her what she meant by that when he felt her hand come to rest on his control panel. Her power hummed through him for the merest fraction of a moment, seeking out the command subroutines responsible for the latches holding his cockpit canopy shut. "Wait, Sarah, _don't_…" The only response he got was a sudden rush of wind as his canopy popped open against his will, the turbulence almost masking the feeling of small human hands grasping the edge of said canopy as a light little body vaulted gracefully over the side, leaping into the void. A momentary flash of sheer terror filled him before his sensors detected her transformation into Zephyr and subsequent shift into her own jet form, gliding away like an autumn leaf borne on a gentle puff of the wind that was her namesake, heading for the ground. She would be just fine, no worries there. His brother, on the other hand…

Focusing his attention downward, he pulled into a steep dive toward the enemy as it reached out to crush the offending Autobot. Summoning up every last ounce of the ferocity he'd once possessed, he transformed right before impact with the back of the target's neck, using his gravity-spawned momentum to drive his claws deep into vital motor circuitry in order to rob his enemy of the ability to move. _"Demolisher," _he roared as he vaulted effortlessly away from his collapsing enemy, _"You will stand down immediately or perish!" _Landing a little hard, he spared a quick moment of concern for his brother's welfare before stomping up to the Decepticon he'd just downed. "Well," he growled. "Do you have anything to say for yourself, disobeying my orders like that? Are you really stupid enough to have discounted the order I issued several years ago, to stand down and end the war?" Eyes flickering, Demolisher spat in his face. "Never!…" he managed, static filling his voice. "I do not… take orders… from an _imposter!_…" At the last word, Megatron's eyes blazed with unrestrained anger, even as Optimus walked closer. Completely deaf to his brother's entreaties to spare Demolisher long enough to get answers, the former Decepticon formed his cannon and blew the offender's head off.

His temper satisfied by that brutal act, he stepped backward, away from the mangled wreck, even as Optimus stepped closer. "Nice going, Megatron," he said, deeply unhappy with what his brother had done. "Now we'll _never_ know what they were after." Megatron shook his head. "Not so," he answered, looking toward where the rest were just at that moment beginning to hit the scene. "The fact that this one had the nerve to call _me_ an imposter means these two, at least, are indeed continuing the war. There may be more." A third voice cut in from around their ankles, the smallness of its source having no effect on its volume. "And that's not all," Sarah cut in as she walked closer. "If they're continuing the war _here, _instead of back home, that must mean they don't know about me and are continuing to search for the All Spark. The logical place for them to start their search would be with whoever was in contact with it last, and _that_ would lead them to…" A look of absolute horror took shape on Optimus's face as he made the connection. _"_…_Sam!"_

"Hey, wait a second, would you?" This new voice drew everyone's attention to where the group of vehicles they'd heard of before had just pulled into view. "You're Autobots, right?" Optimus nodded, not sure precisely which one had spoken. His confirmation elicited a whole lot of excited chatter from the group, most of which amounted to "Wow! Real Autobots!" A sleek silver car, now identifiable as the one who had just spoken, promptly transformed. "We're supposed to be Autobots too. None of us are sure how we know this. We just do. We also know about chasing Decepticons. That's pretty much our gig around here. Never thought we'd get to meet _real_ Autobots. Anyway, I'm Sideswipe, the leader of this little group. I'm just awesome that way, you know?" Following his lead, the three motorcycles, one red, one blue, one purple, transformed as well. "We're basically a gestalt, meaning one mind in three bodies, and we call ourselves the Chopper Sisters," the pink one started. "Arcee…" The purple one spoke up. "Moonracer…" The blue one finished. "And Chromia!" Behind them, the ice cream truck transformed into not one but _two_ roly-poly little fellows, one orange and the other a pale green. "We're _real_ brothers. I'm Skids," the green one said, "And this ugly guy over here is Mudflap." The orange one shoved the green one angrily. "You're calling _me_ ugly? We're twins, you cretin!" An instant later the group had a fight on their hands. Stepping out from behind Megatron, Sarah just had to laugh. Typical siblings… How many times had she witnessed such clashes among children? They were just like a pair of teenagers trying desperately to sound cool but failing miserably and coming off as a pair of total dweebs. As much as the true Autobots had amazed the little group of newcomers, she herself was even more amazing to them, even to the point of stopping the juvenile wrestling match in its tracks.

"It's _her_…" Arcee approached slowly, kneeling down before Sarah. "You're Ace Flint, right?" Pausing a moment, Sarah nodded. "Yes, I went by that name for a while. Mostly because I had amnesia. But my real name is Sarah. And _I _have a question for _you. _How in the world do you know me?" Skids stepped up. "Well, you created us. Look at our vehicle forms. Don't you remember us?" Shock overtook Sarah after a moment's thought. She _did_ recognize them. "You're some of the vehicles I worked on!" Mudflap nodded. "Sure are. Whatever you did to us, it made us alive." Sideswipe nodded. "Thus far we're the only ones to come forward, but we've got a theory… We think you did the same to every vehicle you worked on." Sarah was shocked. "But I worked on a whole lot of vehicles. That would mean there are a whole lot of newborn Autobots running around this planet!" She paused. "But that can wait. We've got bigger problems… Namely more Decepticons, and probably lots of them." The new group promptly transformed into their vehicle forms, the two who had previously been the ice cream truck revealing that they could also transform into two separate vehicles. "In that case, we're coming too," Sideswipe said. "We hunt Decepticons. It's… what we do." Sarah had only one thing to say to that. "Why are you asking _me_ for permission? _He's_ the leader," she said, pointing up at Optimus, who nodded. "Well… As the humans say, 'the more the merrier'. Welcome to the team." Stepping forward with a thoroughly impatient huff, Megatron put his hands on his hips in an all too human gesture as he snapped, "Excuse me, but shouldn't we get going?" Optimus immediately transformed. Taking his lead, the original Autobots did the same and they all set out, following behind him as they always did. Optimus led, the original Autobots followed, and the newcomers brought up the rear. Megatron, for his part, soared at roughly cloud level, carrying Sarah along with him. Wasting no more time, they hit the road and began the journey south at a great speed, though they remembered to hold to the road's speed limit lest they get pulled over.

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How's that for a start? Read and review please!


	2. Minus one

Here's part two… The real action starts here!

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They had just passed the California state line when they received a frantic transmission from Bumblebee. They were too late… Sam had already been taken. The little yellow Autobot had tracked his abductors to an abandoned factory in what had fairly recently become a forest preserve. Opening a communication channel among all of them, Optimus issued his orders. "I'm going to go in and distract the absolute heck out of the lot of them. Bumblebee, be ready to grab Sam while they're distracted. Everyone else, form a perimeter around the area in case any more try to get in. Deactivate your communications systems. We're running silent on this one, so they'll have a harder time figuring out how many of us there are." Megatron voiced an objection. "You're going in _alone? _That's insane! We don't know how many there are!" The tone in his brother's voice silenced him even faster than the words he spoke in response. "They don't either, Megatron. That's why I think a quick sneak attack with just Bumblebee and myself will work best." The former Decepticon quieted down, uncertain. "I… ah… Oh, all right. Just… be careful down there, brother." The reply that he would indeed be careful brought no comfort. Switching off his communications system as ordered, he spoke to his passenger. "Sarah, I need you to be ready with your power. I have a very bad feeling about this fight…" She nodded as the two circled high above, watching as Optimus and Bumblebee prepared to enter the abandoned factory and face whatever Decepticons waited for them inside…

His bad feeling was proved horrifyingly correct when he got an astonished transmission from Bumblebee to anyone listening, breaking Optimus's orders to stay silent without so much as a seeming care. _"Megatron, it's you! Somehow or other, the Decepticons are taking commands from another you!" _None of them had any time to react to this, however, as a wall came tumbling down due to what they could all immediately recognize as a shot from Optimus's cannon, at which point Bumblebee came tearing out and immediately shifted into car form with Sam safely tucked away inside him, peeling out at top speed and heading into the forest. Behind him, Optimus made his exit from the building, locked in mortal combat against a Seeker who somewhat resembled the late Starscream, another Decepticon with a military helicopter for a vehicle mode, and a twisted replica of Megatron, a lopsided monstrosity whose vehicle mode was obviously a tank. The Seeker and the helicopter dropped back to let the dull gray duplicate battle his enemy, content to take the others on and keep them all well away from the fight.

Coming down for a quick landing, the fastest landing he had ever attempted much less succeeded at, the real Megatron pretty much kicked Sarah out before swooping back up to soar toward the battle. Down on the ground, not daring to transform lest the faker detect both her presence and her power, she ran toward the battle just as fast as her enhanced not-quite-human legs could take her. Thrusting branches aside, she came into the clearing just in time to see the one thing she had prayed never to have to witness… Even as she watched, the imposter landed a punch so powerful that it spun poor Optimus around to face the opposite direction, faceplates well and truly dented, only for his enemy's free hand to morph into a wickedly curved blade, which was then thrust into the Autobot leader's back. Time seemed to freeze as the tip erupted from the center of his chest in a thick veil of blue sparks. A moment later it was torn free and Optimus collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut, his new wound spitting an ebbing stream of sparks even as the brilliant blue of his eyes swiftly faded to a dull, dead black. Sarah didn't need her power to tell her what this meant; the limpness of his body said it all. Optimus was dead.

Not even taking a moment to acknowledge victory, the imposter left his victim behind, transforming into an intimidating-looking tank and peeling out at a speed no normal tank could come anywhere near. None of this mattered to any of them, but the one most horrified was the real Megatron. After eons of fighting, he and his brother had finally reconciled and gone back to just being brothers. To lose him now, after just eight short little years of trying to make up for eons as enemies… Primus, it was too much to bear! Transforming in midair and dropping out of the sky in his haste to reach the ground, he was on his knees beside the lifeless body in an instant. "No, brother, _no_…" Desperate for a response, he shook him, hard, only to recoil in horror and disgust at how limp he was. Bowing his head, fighting to keep his rage in check, he took up a new cry. "_Sarah! _Sarah, where are you?" She came charging up beside him in an instant. "Sarah, _help him! _Help him like you helped Jazz!" Kneeling beside him, she summoned up her power… only to recoil in shock. "Megatron, I… I can't!" He snapped to look down at her. "_What?! _That's impossible. You saved me. You brought Jazz back to life. You healed an _entire planet. _Saving my brother should be well within your power. I said _help him, _Sarah!" Unfazed by his anger, she snapped right back. "And _I_ said _I can't! _His spark's gone… and by 'gone' I mean it didn't come to me!" Megatron drooped upon hearing this… At least until the anger set in. _"I'll kill them for this! I'll hunt them down and I'll kill them!" _He lunged to his feet, preparing to transform and take to the sky… at least until Ratchet jumped him. "Ironhide! Help me with this!" An instant later Ironhide was helping Ratchet restrain Megatron, at least long enough for the medic to ready a sedative. "Just a minute… _There!_" The two caught Megatron's limp body as he fell, out cold under heavy sedation, and eased him to the ground. Making sure he would be comfortable upon awakening, Ratchet called out to Sarah. "I'm going to need you to transform before he wakes up. Something tells me _you're_ probably the only one who can really keep him calm."

Day faded into night as the group sat together. Sam and Bumblebee, with Sarah's aid, had worked together to made a smallish bonfire, and they all huddled around it, more for comfort's sake than warmth or light. Sam blamed himself for Optimus's death, having been careless and stupid enough to get caught in the first place, and Bumblebee was trying his darnedest to convince him otherwise with Sarah backing him up. Ratchet busied himself with fixing what could be fixed, so Optimus could be taken home to be laid to rest with all the honors due one of his stature. Ironhide stood guard over the whole scene. Megatron remained where he had fallen, sleeping off the sedatives Ratchet had used on him. A soft murmur escaped him as he shifted slightly. Slight as the movement was, Sarah caught it. "Excuse me," she said to the rest as she stood up and stepped away from the bonfire. Taking a moment to transform, she sat down next to the slowly awakening former Decepticon and pulled his limp body into her arms, letting him lay his head against her chest. Giving a soft murmur, he instinctively snuggled up a little bit closer to the warmth of her body and the two spent a long moment just like that. "Mmm, wha…?" His eyes slowly opened as he raised his head and looked up at her. "Zephyr? Zephyr, where's…" The memory hit him like several tons of bricks. _"Optimus!" _he yelped, jerking violently at the remembered horror of what he had witnessed. Now wide awake, he looked at the rest before pulling free of his mate's embrace and standing up, still a little bit dizzy, before walking away from the bonfire, into the dark. Zephyr took a short moment to look toward where the rest still sat before turning to follow him out.

He sat alone in the dark, legs drawn up against his chest with his arms wrapped round his knees, staring down at the ground… at least until Zephyr sat down beside him. "I'm all right," he said softly, not liking the uncertain quaver in his voice. She shook her head. "No, Megatron. You're not." There was a long pause. "He wouldn't want you to keep your emotions bottled up like this. You're pulling away from us again… Wasn't that how it started before?" The realization startled him. This was indeed how it had begun; the slow process of alienation that had led to him turning against the rest. "But I… Zephyr, I can't…" Draping her arm over his shoulders, she pulled him just a little bit closer. "We're not Decepticons, Megatron. We aren't going to turn on you at the slightest hint of weakness or anything. After all, you're just feeling the exact same thing as the rest of us." She was right, and he knew it. In her presence it was safe to let go of the rage he'd been using to mask his true feelings. "…I can't believe he's gone," he whispered, sounding thoroughly lost as he wrapped his arms around her as if fearing he would lose her too. His composure faded little by little as he buried his face against her chest. Releasing his control over his emotions was hard for him, but Zephyr knew it was something he needed to do. "It's all right," she murmured to him, so softly he alone could hear, gently rubbing his back, right between his wing panels. She continued to hold him close, stroking his back and comforting him as best she could, as he finally let go and wept in her arms.

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Another Megatron… How can this be? The answer will come later… much later! But the answer WILL come. Trust me, it'll be explained later on!

Read and review, please.


	3. Where do we go from here?

Here's part three. This story may end up not being all that long… But it'll include all the stuff from the movie.

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Dawn came all too quickly, and the Autobots regrouped… or at least they tried to. "Bumblebee," Sarah asked, having transformed back first thing. "This transmission you caught… What was it?" He looked to her. "Well, archaeologists the world over have discovered inexplicable consistencies among ancient human cultures all over the Earth. The same symbols, over and over. Here, I'll show them to you." Bending down, he traced a series of odd glyphs in the dirt. Ratchet identified them. "These are in the ancient language of our people… Somehow, some way, we and the humans have been in contact before!" Ironhide had a question of his own. "Can you read them?" Ratchet shook his head. "No, I can't. I doubt there's anyone alive who can. This language is beyond ancient, even for us. It'd be like pulling a human off the street and asking him to read something written in Latin." It was then that Sarah spoke up, having previously just sort of stared at the symbols. "I can read these…" That statement elicited a simultaneous double take from everyone present. _"What?" _She pointed to the glyphs. " It says 'When dawn alights the dagger's tip, the three kings will show the way'. It's a clue of some sort… Directions to something. Maybe this is what stirred the Decepticons up, aside from the imposter. And if it's what stirred the Decepticons up, which I'm betting it is, I'm thinking we ought to take up the hunt and find it first, before they do." Megatron stepped closer. "Directions to what, though?" Sarah stood back up. "Darn if I know, but it can't be anything good if the Decepticons are after it. Like Ratchet said, this stuff is ancient. We'd need to find somebody equally ancient to explain it." It was then that Sam decided to pipe up. "Who's to say we can't? If they already came to this planet, I'm betting they decided to stay. After all, why leave if you're just going to come back at some point? And if it's important, wouldn't you leave guards?" Bumblebee nodded. "He's right. That has to mean at least one of them is still here. Now, where can a really old car or jet hide itself away while ensuring that it will be as well cared for as possible?" The answer came to Sarah in an instant. In the whole world, there was only one place where old, historically important planes could be kept in the best shape possible… "The National Air and Space Museum down in Virginia!" she crowed delightedly. "Nobody takes care of relics anywhere _near_ as well as they do! Let's go, everyone. Ironhide, I'll ride with you and show the way if you like." Megatron voiced an opposition, but she cut him off. "Navigating through streets isn't like flying. It's best if I help from the ground." They were ready to go, but they had one last task to perform before they left… Swiping a super-long truck trailer from a shipping facility, they made an impromptu tomb for Optimus and laid him to rest as best they could. When the time came for them to return home, they would come back to take the whole thing with them. For now, they only prayed he would not be disturbed. In his absence, Ironhide was supposed to be the official leader, but somehow even he had ended up taking orders from Sarah. She had been the one to step up when they needed someone to take charge, so in everyone's eyes, even Ironhide's, she had become the leader. Traveling from California to Virginia would be a long trip, but no one seemed to mind. If it meant stopping the Decepticons, there was no such thing as traveling too far.

It took a few days, but they got there. Soon the Autobots sat in the building's parking lot in vehicle form, while Megatron flew off to hide out in the nearby airport. "It's up to us, Sam," Sarah said as they walked toward the door. "All we have to do is find him, and I'll work my special magic to wake him up if need be. All we need is a couple admission tickets and we're golden." Sam ended up having to pay since Sarah had no money. The amount didn't bother him, since thwarting Decepticons was worth anything. He shrugged off her offer to pay him back, since she really had no way to do so, short of illegally hacking his bank account. Stepping inside, they discussed their 'battle plan'. "We'll start on the left and go clockwise. Stay near me, all right? I'm betting the Decepticons would still like to get their hands on you. Why were they after you, anyway?" Sam shrugged. "Besides revenge? I'm not sure. The imposter Megatron blamed me for the fact that he had to trade in his jet form for a tank." Sarah winced at that. Losing the ability to fly was about the worst thing imaginable for all who were flight-capable. Sam continued. "But there was more to it than that. They kept talking about ancient machines, hidden keys, and somebody they called the Fallen. They seemed to think I was the key to getting whatever they wanted, but I didn't understand _any_ of it." It was Sarah's turn to shrug. "That makes two of us, because I don't understand it either. That's why we're here, looking for this guy." As fate would have it, her power chose that moment to alert her to the fact that they had found what they were looking for, in the form of the sleek black jet at the center of it all… "The SR-71 Blackbird! The crown jewel of the collection, or so I believe. Man, this guy's savvy and then some. Taking the place of the most important plane they have…"

Ducking under the barrier protecting the jet, she approached slowly. "Makes more sense than replacing the space shuttle prototype, too. They practically dismantled it after the Columbia disaster, if you remember." Reaching out, she hesitantly ran her fingertips along one wing's leading edge. "That's right, big guy… We're talking about _you. _It's time to wake up, if you can hear me." It only took the slightest flicker of her power to awaken him, and an instant later the jet rose up higher and higher… A deep voice spoke, the thick Scottish brogue sounding almost laughably out of place, given the source. "Organics, approach me or face my wrath!" A single detail made both of them freeze with fear. _Red eyes. _"Run, it's a Decepticon!" Sam turned to run away, but Sarah grabbed his arm as the black-armored jet crouched down, complaining of his aching joints. "It's all right, Sam," she said, "I think this guy's seen better days and lots of them, if you get my meaning." Giving him a moment to calm down, Sarah stepped a little closer and got the aged jet's attention. "Hello there," she called, pulling him out of his irritated rant about itchy rust, stupid organics and the inconveniences of old age. "Do you have a name?" Looking down, he turned his irritation upon her. "My name? Of course I have a name! It's… uh…" Sarah sighed at what she deemed bad luck. They just _had_ to run into a senile delinquent. "…Jetfire! Yes, that's it. Jetfire. My name's Jetfire." He paused. "What planet am I on, anyway?" It was then that Sam spoke up. "You don't even remember what _planet_ you're on?" Jetfire looked down at him with a scowl. "The passage of time does that, especially when you've lived as long as I have. You suddenly find that your hardwiring isn't so hard anymore, if you get my meaning." He paused again. "Say, is that civil war still going? Are the Decepticons still out there? Bloody heathens, the lot of them. No respect at all. That's why I defected." Sam stepped closer. "You defected?" Jetfire nodded. "Darn straight I did. That's why I'm hiding here, so they can't find me. Of course, humans aren't much better. They don't know the first thing about maintenance."

Straightening up as much as he could, pulling out a cane that had previously been the rear axle of his jet form, he pushed past the other planes and headed toward the hangar door. "Keeping me in a bloody mausoleum, too. Don't they know how _creepy_ it is being stored among a bunch of husks?" Prying the doors open, not a care for who might see him, he stepped out onto the airport tarmac with Sam and Sarah chasing after. "Got a mission to do, but I don't remember what it is. Supposed to protect something." Sam called out to him. "Maybe we can help you. Maybe we could even help each other." Jetfire paused, disregarding the approach of the Autobots, and the lone silver jet that transformed to stride closer to the trio. "And how do you think you can help _me, _you tiny little…" Sarah stepped closer. "Well, maybe what we found relates to your mission… 'When dawn alights the dagger's tip, the three kings will show the way'. Sound familiar, maybe?" Sam chose that moment to speak up again, to offer his two proverbial cents. "We think it's what the Decepticons are after, or at least related to it. They kept talking about keys, great machines and some guy they called the Fallen." Jetfire snapped to face him again. "The Fallen, you say? So it's that time…" Looking around, he motioned the rest closer. "I'd best be on my way, then. Gather around and stay close…" They all huddled together as a ring of energy formed around them, dissolving into a cascade of blue-white light that whisked them all away in a roar of displaced air and sudden, violent skyward motion…

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Next up, the back story… done MY way!

Read and review, please.


	4. In ages past

And now… Jetfire's rambling back story!

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The morning sun beat down upon a group of figures lying stretched out on a wide swath of golden sand. The Autobots were already up and around, trying to locate each other and figure out what had happened. Their next concern was for the sake of their two human friends, even though Sarah technically couldn't be called human anymore. Jetfire, for his part, was seated on a nearby rock outcropping as the rest gathered around, demanding an explanation for what the heck had just happened. He nodded nonchalantly. "I opened a space bridge to bring us here… Hey, count your blessings, at least we're still on the same planet. And, like I told you before, we're in Egypt." Thoroughly frustrated with him, Sam gave a grumble. "_Egypt? _You didn't say anything about that!" Jetfire looked genuinely surprised. "I didn't? I could've sworn I did…" Sarah waved her arms to get his attention. "Wait a minute! _Wait a minute! _Could we maybe get an explanation before anything else happens?" Settling right back down on the rock, the old jet prepared to tell his story…

"In ancient times, before our species began, there was a race of dimension-hopping beings called the Dynasty of Primes. Now, I'm not sure whether they called themselves that, or if it's what others called them… But I digress. When they came to this dimension, they evidently liked it so much that they decided to choose a planet and settle down. To shape the planet they chose, they brought with them a single artifact from their travels… the All Spark!" Ratchet gave a gasp. "So _that's_ where it came from!" Jetfire gave him a dirty look. "Quiet, you." Then he continued. "Drained from the trip since traveling between dimensions can hardly be called easy, the All Spark needed a source of energy… in short, it needed to be charged up with energon. Now, the methods of refining energon hadn't been invented yet, so they needed to find a way to get the refined stuff naturally. To that end, they invented the Star Harvester, which is exactly what it sounds like. It causes a star to go supernova, and then collects the energy released when it does so, converting it into energon." He paused. "But the Primes had a problem. Though they could hop between dimensions just fine, no problems there, they had no way to travel between stars. So they used the All Spark to give life to a new race of beings who could switch forms… in short, our distant ancestors. There were two kinds; those who could fly and those who couldn't. The flyers, called Seekers, were sent out as scouts, to locate a suitable star." Megatron cut in. "So that's why they're called that?" Jetfire used his cane to hit him over the head. "I said _quiet!_" The silver former Decepticon promptly shut up, rubbing his dented head and grumbling a few choice expletives. "Good. When they found one, the ones who couldn't fly were sent in to build a Star Harvester on one of the planets orbiting the chosen star, which would then be used to harvest its energy. When the Star Harvester was completed, the Primes themselves came in to operate it. Eventually they found their way here." Sam spoke up. "Hey, they came _here? _We kind of need our star!" Rather than snapping at him or swatting him with his cane, Jetfire nodded. "Now, the Primes had a rule. If they found a planet with life on it, even if it was just a bunch of silly little microbes, the star it orbited was automatically considered off-limits. But one of their number was dissatisfied with that rule, and with sharing power with his brothers. He turned on them all, betraying and murdering them. Even as they fell, they bestowed a name upon the traitor, a name he happily adopted. They called him the Fallen, after how he had fallen from grace. Now, I probably should have mentioned this to you earlier, but they designed the Star Harvester to operate through the use of a key, a key they called the Matrix of Leadership because the one who had it was pretty much on top since they would then have control over the Star Harvester. The key also served to focus and contain the energy, so whoever had it would have control over not just every Star Harvester already built and any built in the future, but also over all the energy obtained through their use. And believe me, that's a lot of energy! Fearing what the Fallen would do to the universe and everything in it if he got the key, they did everything they could to hide it from him, even as he slaughtered them. So they abandoned their world entirely, in favor of fleeing from their evil brother to keep the key from him. But before they left… Knowing the creations they left behind would need guidance in their absence, and granting them the ability to face the Fallen too if need be, they bestowed their power upon one of their number, raising him up to their level both in intellect and in strength. In their honor he then took the title of Prime, and he would pass both the title and the power on to his firstborn child, born from the All Spark just as they all had been." Though the revelation of the origin of the title of 'Prime' startled the lot of them, no one said anything because none of them wanted to have Jetfire whack them with his cane. "A universe-wide hunt began after that. The remaining Primes ran, they hid, but always the Fallen would find them. Eons passed, uncountable eons, and the Fallen created many Seekers to aid him in his chase. I was one of the first he created. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I _like_ him or anything… He had no manners at all! Treating us like we were less than tools… He never even bothered to name any of us! But I'm getting off topic again." He paused. "The Primes only really tried to fight back once. They picked a promising-looking star located near this galaxy's fringe and chose one of the planets circling it, and built a Star Harvester there. They didn't bother summoning any workers for the task; no, they did all the work themselves. Then, when it was done, they brought the key out of hiding, purposely letting the Fallen detect its energy, to lure him in with the promise of obtaining the key with a Star Harvester already set up and seemingly just waiting for him. He came all right, and all his creations came with him. The battle that followed was awful. The Fallen was defeated, but the cost… Most of the Primes were killed. Only twelve were left, and they knew that they would stand no chance if the Fallen tried again. In their minds, there was only one course of action to take… And thus it was that the twelve came together, sacrificing themselves to hide the key away in a tomb made from their own bodies and sealed with their own life essences. Before they did, they left behind a clue in the form of writing left in various places all over the planet. The clue was left for if the descendants of their creations ever came, so the Prime they left behind could use it to destroy the Fallen for good. And here's the kicker. The planet they came to in order to try to defeat the Fallen was _this_ one! That's what I meant when I said they eventually found their way here. I witnessed all of this myself. That's why I know about the sacrifice they made. The Fallen may have been defeated instead of killed, but us… His Seekers… We were decimated. There had been legions of us, but only ten remained, of which I was just one. We had no idea what to do, so we headed to the planet we'd heard so much about, the planet the Primes had reshaped with the All Spark's power… When we arrived, we found the civil war in full swing. In socializing with both sides, we were given names. …That's how I got mine, anyway. One by one the others chose sides, and one by one they died in battle. In the end, only I was left. Wanting no part in a conflict over an artifact that really meant nothing to me since I wasn't born from it, I came back here to wait until one of two things happened. One, someone came along with the power to destroy the Fallen once and for all, so I could help them do it. Two, the Fallen returned, so I could try to defend the key myself if I had to." He paused again, straightening up a bit. "If the Fallen has truly resumed his designs _without_ leaving this planet to do so, there's only one thing he could be doing. He must be looking for the key again. As you can probably guess, he must not be allowed to find it. The universe is doomed if he does, not to mention this planet. We have to find it first, and keep it away from him. But that's where we run into a problem. We can run all we like, but only a Prime can fight him and have any chance of not getting completely flattened." Everyone looked down in grief. "My older brother," Megatron said in sorrow and great pain. "My brother was Prime, but he… he's dead. The Decepticons killed him a few days ago…" Jetfire looked down as well, for a different reason. "And all hope lies dead with him."

It was then that Sam had an idea. "Wait a minute! You said the key held the energy that was used to re-power the All Spark. Couldn't it also be used to re-power an extinguished spark?" Jetfire thought on the idea for a moment. "The energy's basically the same, so… it's possible. Not very likely, and somewhat suicidal, but possible." Megatron saw where he was going with things. "You're saying that if we had that key we would be able to bring my brother back?" Sam nodded. "That's exactly what I'm saying. And from what I heard it sounds like we kind of have to. But before anything else happens, we have to figure out the clue that was left for us. The only lead we have is the fact that Jetfire brought us _here, _which means it has something to do with Egypt. So we know it has to do with Egypt, and it also happens to be really freaking old." They all took a few minutes to settle down and think. After a few long minutes, Sarah broke the silence. "Well, I guess it's a good thing that I was so completely obsessed with Ancient Egypt as a kid. You tend to pick up a few things. For instance, the pyramids at Giza… You know, the really famous ones? They were positioned to mirror the alignment of the stars in Orion's Belt. Those three stars were very important and downright sacred to the Egyptians. They called them…" Her voice trailed off. "…The Three Kings…" Jumping to her feet, she started issuing orders like a madwoman. "I don't know what whoever wrote this meant about the 'dagger's tip' thing, but I think I can decipher enough of it to figure out what we have to do. We have to go to Giza. We have to watch the sun rise, and the stars will show us the way. Jetfire, would you be willing to lend us a hand?" Eager for a chance to actually _do_ something after so much time spent just sitting around in that museum, he nodded. "All right, Jetfire, I'm going to need you to do the space bridge thing again to pick up a certain 'package'. Take Ratchet with you. He'll help you keep your coordinates straight and point out exactly what you should pick up. Ratchet, once you're done with that and ready to come back, use the internet to look up the coordinates for the Great Plain of Giza, then help guide Jetfire there. Use the pyramids as a reference point, as they're the area's most prominent feature. You couldn't miss them if you tried, and I really hope you don't plan to try missing them. Oh, and I think I ought to warn you. Be ready for a possible fight upon arrival, because the Decepticons will probably be able to follow your energy signature… That is, if they aren't already busy tracking _us!_" The duo nodded and walked off together, chatting in a rather unhappy fashion about disrespectful kids and obviously bonding as they did so. "Good luck finding the Tomb of the Twelve," Jetfire called over his shoulder. "Did I mention that's what we took to calling it?" Once they had gotten a good enough distance away from where the others stood, the two of them disappeared in the same brilliant cascade of blue-white light that had brought the lot of them there.

"Now," Sarah said after they departed. "We have to reach Giza, which is no mean feat in itself since we don't really know where we are. Megatron, can I fly with you? I don't feel safe transforming with the Decepticons around, just in case they can trace my energy signature, but I think my enhanced senses can compensate for that if I'm at a high enough altitude." Not bothering to question how she had somehow managed to end up in charge, he simply stepped forward and switched into jet form, opening his cockpit canopy to allow her to enter. A moment later they rose to cloud level and she scanned the horizon. She recognized the pyramids easily, just as she was sure any human would have done. Wasting no time, she began to give directions to the small convoy that swiftly formed on the ground so far below. Sam rode with Bumblebee as he always did, traveling right behind Ironhide for safety's sake. The rest fell in line behind him, and off they went. They found themselves heading north, almost due north, as morning faded into afternoon.

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The real adventure begins!

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	5. Arrow in the sky

At long last, here's the next part. Did anybody even care how late this update was?

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They arrived late in the afternoon and clustered around the tourist information center for the Giza Plateau as a whole, at which point the Autobots unanimously decided to take naps in vehicle form, save for Megatron, who realized he really couldn't hide on the ground. Rather than napping as a jet, he switched into his normal form to have a seat behind the building and take a quick rest that way. Sarah and Sam napped with their respective guardians, Sam sprawled out in Bee's back seat with the air conditioning at full blast, Sarah pressed up against Megatron's side despite the heat, with his hand cupped over her small form to provide shade. Afternoon slipped into evening and then night as they all did their best to take advantage of the few peaceful hours they had been granted. The time passed fairly quickly, as no one was really awake to notice the hours going by.

Like the Autobots, Sarah didn't need nearly as much sleep as Sam did, so she awakened with them around midnight. Most of them gathered together to watch the stars, looking for the constellation Orion and failing miserably at finding it. Two, however, didn't join in. Bumblebee was one of them, staying in car form so Sam could continue to sleep in relative comfort. Megatron was the other, choosing to slink off into the darkness rather than stay with the rest to watch the sky. "Megatron," Sarah sighed, excusing herself from the rest of the group to approach where he now sat and sit down beside him. Unsure of how to start a conversation, she eventually settled for asking "Are you all right?" The stress he was feeling was evident from the first word he spoke. "Oh, I'm fine," he said sarcastically. "I'm sitting next to a glorified pile of rocks built by a bunch of comparative ants in a place I've never even _heard_ of before with sand in places I didn't even know I _had, _watching an alien sky for a clue to help find Primus knows what to help revive my brother, who was killed by my retarded evil twin. Why _wouldn't_ I be fine?!" There was a long pause, followed by a sharp clang as metal hand met metal faceplate. "…I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. I'm… a little stressed out." Sarah shook her head with a smile. "As are we all." Megatron sighed. "Not like _me, _you aren't. I need action, Sarah. I need to take my anger out on something, preferably a Decepticon, and even _more_ preferably that imposter. I'm supposed to be strong, Sarah. I once led the Decepticons, so it's supposed to be a foregone conclusion to say that I'm very powerful. But I just had to watch my brother die right in front of me, unable to save him, unable to _do_ anything…" She stepped up beside him and hugged his arm, being too small to do much else. "There was nothing any of us could do, Megatron… But we're doing something now, aren't we? If all goes well, we'll be able to bring him back. That's better than nothing, isn't it?" He nodded after a moment's thought on the mission at hand. A moment later, he decided to change the subject. "I've been thinking on what Jetfire said, about the Primes and the origin of our people, and I must say I'm a little confused. If our world is the body of Primus, and the All Spark is the spark of Primus, then how is it that the All Spark can be a relic from another dimension? What is a spark without a body? Was Primus born when the All Spark first came to our world?" Sarah smiled. "I've been thinking about that too, and I think I know the answer. Your body doesn't make you who you are. No, your spark does. When the Primes brought the All Spark to our world, it was just another planet. In shaping the planet to their needs, the spark of Primus fashioned the planet into his body as well. Our bodies are just shells to contain our sparks… or souls, as humans call them… and said sparks may very well outlive the shells that hold them to be reborn again anew. It's called reincarnation, Megatron… a phenomenon some humans believe in. Reincarnation is when a soul… or a spark… leaves behind the body that once held it when said body dies, to take up residence in a new one. With the All Spark's power of creation, it would be less than child's play to fashion a body, much like when I use my power to repair damage. That's just a theory, mind you. I imagine we'd have to ask Primus himself about that one… unless this theory that came into my mind was put there by the All Spark itself." He nodded with a small smile, and she smiled back. "Now," she said as she stood back up, "Shall we join the rest?" He shook his head. "Not quite yet. I'd much prefer it if you'd stay with me a while." She quietly settled down again, resuming her position next to him, and they just stayed like that, not saying a word as they just stared up at the night sky.

Megatron was deep in thought, though he gave no outward sign of it, or of what he was thinking about. His mind replayed the same things over and over: images of the hateful imposter that had struck his brother down. It was easy to see how the other Decepticons had immediately assumed he was the real deal; the resemblance was uncanny even despite the many differences. The imposter was a little shorter than he was, squatter and more heavily built, all the graceful characteristics of one who transformed into a jet long gone. The beautiful silvery sheen he was so proud of was absent from his more monstrous almost-twin, replaced with a sickly dull gray, all reflective quality gone almost completely. The lopsidedness of his body structure, most evident in his arms, spoke of a long and difficult resurrection gone awry. The one arm had been rendered almost overly massive, seemingly devoted solely to the use of his fusion cannon or the monstrous blade that had taken Optimus's life, and he could apparently switch between the two at will. The added mass had apparently been drawn from the other arm, reducing it to an almost laughably frail thinness in comparison to the first, making the slender spidery claws seem ridiculously fragile. The face was almost completely the same but the features were harsher and sharper, more angular, with the glowering leer of one whose spark had been thoroughly consumed by anger and hatred. The eyes, so like his own, blazed with a single-minded drive that bordered on utter madness, an overriding hunger to kill and destroy everything in his path. His first fleeting glimpse of the imposter, even as he had stepped forth into the sunlight through the hole Optimus had blown in the wall in his desperation to escape with Sam, had told him all. Here was a monster, a psychotic engine of destruction who could destroy the entire universe in a fiery orgy of death and carnage and still not be satisfied. Was _this_ how he had been during his time as the leader of the Decepticons? Was this how others had seen him? No, the imposter was worse, he had to be… He'd had a goal in mind when he started, and he'd directed all his efforts toward that goal. The imposter, however, didn't really seem to have a goal in mind. All focus was gone, all control, leaving behind an insane urge to destroy merely for destruction's sake, to raze everything until there was nothing left to destroy. A realization came to him. This wasn't just a case of a pretender usurping his name along with the place and power he had once called his. No, this was a homicidal madman with more power than any maniac should ever be able to lay claim to, and he was a threat to everything in existence, not just the things he held dear.

As dawn began to approach, rosy colors just barely beginning to show above the horizon, Sarah woke Sam and together they climbed onto the building's roof to look at the stars. All around them the others were waking up as well, imitating them by looking up at the sky even though they couldn't recognize constellations or tell which stars they were supposed to be looking for. "Look there," Sarah said, pointing toward the horizon. "Orion's Belt is so close to the horizon here. They're all in a line, pointing directly east. Look how the pyramids mirror their position, so much like a colossal arrow in the sky…" She jumped in joy as the realization came to her. "East! _East! _We have to go east! Come on, everyone. There's no time to waste, as far as I know. Let's go!" All around her the Autobots got ready to go as she and Sam did the same. Ironhide carried Sarah as he had previously, and Bumblebee carried Sam as he always did. The convoy peeled out at a great speed, headed east, as Megatron took to the sky and followed… Or at least most of them did. Sarah ordered the Chopper Sisters, Sideswipe, Jazz and Ironhide to stay behind, to help Ratchet and Jetfire however possible once they returned with their cargo. She would have ordered Megatron to do the same, but he would have none of it. If he stayed behind, the travelers would have no aerial support unless Sarah transformed, and her secret would be obvious to the Decepticons the minute she did. And besides, Jetfire could fly if he remembered how, so the group staying behind already had aerial support if they needed it. But the group of travelers didn't, so he would be the one to provide it. Several days of hard travel along dusty roads and at least one border crossing lay before them, but again they didn't care about how far they had to go if it meant bringing Optimus back.

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I'm starting to wonder why I'm even bothering with this story…

Read and review, please!


	6. In the shadow of an ancient city

Here's the next part, in which the key is finally found.

Oh, and I just realized I made a mistake in my last chapter. Ironhide didn't stay behind to help Ratchet and Jetfire when they came, he went with Sarah and the rest.

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Soon, but not nearly soon enough, they found themselves entering a narrow valley. It was too sandy for vehicles to travel with any efficiency, so the Autobots switched into their normal forms to hike the rest of the way. Swooping down, Megatron transformed and joined them right before they entered the valley. For speed's sake, both Sam and Sarah consented to being carried; Sam by Bumblebee and Sarah by Megatron. "So _this_ is where we're supposed to go," Sam said from his perch in Bumblebee's hands. "Seems kind of familiar… like I've seen it in a movie or something." Rounding a bend, they beheld a huge rosy-hued stone edifice carved out of the rock wall itself. "Hey, it's the ancient city of Petra! Man, I never thought I'd get to see it in person," Sarah laughed in utter delight as she leapt from her awkward position on Megatron's shoulder without so much as a care for how high up she was. Bumblebee set Sam down gently. "Think we'll find the Holy Grail in there?" Humming the Indiana Jones theme at the top of her lungs, she jogged over to the entrance atop a three-foot-high ledge created by the movement of sand and climbed up before waiting for Sam to do the same so she could help him up too. Skids and Mudflap were the only two Autobots small enough to easily accompany them without having to duck, so they did just that. Tripping and falling just as he was about to enter the ruins, Skids landed on his face. "Man, I _hate_ sand! Why did those creepy old Prime dudes have to bury their key-doohickey out here in the middle of a desert?" Looking over her shoulder, Sarah stifled a chuckle. "Hey, count your blessings. We _could_ be stuck in the middle of, like, an Amazon rainforest swatting bugs the size of our heads." Sam nodded. "And I did, if you remember. I was in that one movie, back in 2008." Sarah nodded back. "You mean 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'? Yeah, I remember that one. I snuck out of the base to see it, actually. Then I got caught coming back in. I swear, I have never seen Optimus that pissed off before in all my life… Let me tell you, you think _Megatron_ is scary?" Pausing, she changed the subject. "Good movie, though."

Given a few moments for their eyes to adjust to the change in light levels, both Sam and Sarah were able to see that the room they were in appeared to be a dead end. The walls were decorated on one side by a beautiful fresco featuring several human figures and blank on the rest, but it was obvious that there was no way further in. "Nothing," Sarah said, poking at one of the walls. "That can't be right," Sam objected. "We wouldn't be led here for nothing. Look around; there _has_ to be something!" Stepping backward, Skids crossed his arms. "Hold it. I'm not taking orders from a human." Mudflap decided to tease him. "What's the matter, are you scared of the dark?" Skids promptly smacked him. "Scared of your ugly face, is more like it!" Mudflap wasted no time in smacking him right back. "Ugly, huh? We're twins, you moron!" Sam and Sarah retreated to the other side of the room as the wrestling match began, even as Bumblebee climbed in, having to bend almost double to fit in the room. The two fighters hit the fresco, cracking it. A piece fell away the minute they moved off, exposing something much darker behind it. "Wait," Sarah said as Bumblebee forcibly separated the two brothers. Stepping closer, she took a good look. "Metal… and glyphs? This is it! We've found the Tomb of the Twelve!" Backing away, she turned to Bumblebee, who had just tossed Skids and Mudflap outside. "Would you mind helping remove this wall?" He nodded. "I can do that," he said, readying his cannon. Seeing this, Sarah tried to stop him. "Wait, Bumblebee, _don't_…" The blast was deafening at such close quarters, blowing dust and sand everywhere. "Nice one," Sarah said with a cough, as both she and Sam were completely coated. Taking a short moment to brush themselves off, they entered the hole Bumblebee had just made.

Jetfire had been right to call it a tomb, for they soon found that entering it had placed them in the midst of a grouping of ancient bodies, positioned shoulder to shoulder in a ring, kneeling down with lifeless faces bowed as if in prayer over the relic that rested atop their clasped hands… It was an angular sculpture of coal-black metal a little bit smaller than a football, a graceful-looking lattice of delicate sculpted tendrils, completely hollow on the inside, and at its heart was what appeared to be a brilliant blue jewel. "The key," Sarah breathed in awe, reaching out to touch it… Only to recoil in horror as it crumbled into a pile of dust. "No," she whimpered. Sam, for his part, removed his shoes to take off his socks. Placing one inside the other to maximize the material's strength, he began to scoop the dust in, being careful to spill as little as possible. "Energy can't be destroyed. That's what my physics teacher always kept on saying. Crumbled or not, it's still the key." Sarah nodded, uncertain. It was true that energy couldn't be destroyed, so perhaps… just perhaps… "Then I guess it's good enough for me. Let's go!" Exiting the tomb, they rejoined Bee before exiting the sand-filled room to report their finding to the rest. Before anything else happened, all who could fit through the door went back in to seal the tomb up again and hide it from the world, but not before paying their respects to the dead Primes who had sacrificed their lives to hide they key so they could find it. Exiting and forming up, the group began the long hike back out of the valley. Once again the two humans consented to being carried by their respective guardians, more for the sake of speed than anything else. The hike out went a bit quicker, they walked a little bit faster than before, as they were anxious to return to the others and hopefully resurrect Optimus.

It was late evening when they reached the end of the valley, so they decided to stop for the night. There was no material to use to build a fire, so Bumblebee and Ironhide switched into vehicle form to illuminate the immediate area via the use of their headlights. The twins were their typical seemingly dimwitted selves, joking around and ending up in yet another of their infamous brawls. Seated off to the side and leaning against the rock, Megatron gave a laugh at their antics. Seated next to him, Sarah smiled at the sound of his laughter. "You seem cheerful tonight," she said. Looking down at her, he smiled as well. "Well, I suppose it's only because I am." Quieting down, he gave a sigh. "We're almost there, Sarah. We've made it farther than I thought we would, actually. I really doubted Jetfire's story was true, given how far gone his mind is. But it was all true! The key is real! Crumbled or not, I believe with all my spark that it'll work, that it'll bring my brother back to life so I can… apologize…" He looked down, his happy mood seemingly fading. Sarah looked up at him. "Apologize? What do you mean by that?" Another sigh escaped him. "I could have kept this from happening in the first place if I had gotten there in time. I could have beaten that imposter and saved my brother if I had been there, or if I hadn't let him go in alone. All of this happened because I was too slagging slow to stop it!" There was a pause. "But that doesn't really matter now, because we're going to use the key to set things right. It may not be tomorrow, or the day after, but it'll happen. The key will work, Optimus will come back to life, and then everything will be all right." Sarah nodded. "I hope so too. And hopefully that'll be the end of all this craziness so we can go home. How do you think things are going back home, with the lot of us gone?" Looking up at the sky again, Megatron sighed. "Barricade's been keeping the peace in our absence. That's his job, after all… Always has been. No wonder he picked a law enforcement vehicle when he came to this planet. Anyway, I received an update from him that says things are quiet as can be. The only problem he's had is keeping Galvie out of trouble. I swear, even _I_ wasn't this bad at his age…" A third voice cut in from off to the side._ "Don't you believe it!" _Ironhide practically yelled, drawing a funny look from them both. "As I recall, you two got in trouble almost constantly. And _you_ were the ringleader, Megatron. You may have been the younger brother, but you were bigger than him and he didn't have much of a backbone as a child. He always ended up doing what you said and following your lead, if you recall. What, you forgot the time you both snuck into Ratchet's office and you got stuck in the ventilation shaft when you tried to leave?" Ironhide's words almost dissolved into laughter. "_I_ was the one assigned to come fetch you both… After I was finally able to stop laughing at the sight of your aft hanging halfway out of the ventilation shaft like it had been mounted on the wall, little legs kicking like crazy!" Sarah started laughing as well at that point, and Megatron would have blushed had he been able to. "Optimus could have crawled off and left you there, but he didn't, even though he could have easily escaped punishment that way. No, he stayed with you the whole time. You two did _everything_ together, including getting punished."

Once again awakening early in the morning as they always did, they switched to vehicle form, Bumblebee carrying Sam, Ironhide carrying Sarah, and off they went. More hard travel and another border crossing lay ahead, but they still didn't care. Sam was able to nap in Bumblebee's seat as the group pressed onward with Ironhide leading the way and Megatron guiding them onward from the sky, giving them directions and helping them avoid detection. Just as they had done before, they avoided border patrols and checkpoints by leaving the road behind and cutting through the depths of the desert.

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We're getting to more action, folks. I couldn't think of a different way to do things, so this will continue to follow the movie.

Read and review, please!


	7. Devastation

Here's the next bit. Just when they thought they were going to make it…

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They were very nearly there when the ground shook beneath their tires. Pulling to a halt, they stared in horror at the plume of smoke that rose from the Giza Plateau. Their every instinct screamed 'Decepticons', but the truth of the matter was that they were too far away to really see what was going on. Taking no chances on being spotted in the sky, Megatron immediately swooped down to land next to the rest. They would drive. He would run. Taking it moderately slow, they stopped at the other side of the plateau, on the far side of a smallish, now largely deserted village. "Ratchet and Jetfire are going to be here soon, if they aren't here already. I told them to use the pyramids as a reference point, so that'd put them in the middle of it! Sam, you have to get the… uh… dust to Optimus and _fast, _and I'm betting they'll be out to get you or at least stop you. You're with me, and we're going to run there, you got that? They'll be looking for Autobots, so I'm betting they'll miss a couple of tiny little humans. Bumblebee, you'll be playing decoy. Make them think you've got Sam with you, all right? Megatron, look for an opening. Be ready to sucker punch the imposter if need be. I'm betting you'll knock him for a loop just by showing yourself. Skids, Mudflap, you two cut around from the side. You may be small, but I'm betting you can cause a big enough ruckus to offset that." She would have said more, but it was then that the most amazing and horrifying thing happened…

A colossal form reared up with an almighty roar and began to scale one of the pyramids, digging huge claws into the crumbling stone. An eerie green light shone from its eyes and blazed in its titanic maw as it climbed up higher, its crouching form almost making the pyramid seem ridiculously tiny in comparison. "Devastator," Megatron said in a mixture of awe and utter horror. Sarah paused. "Wait a minute, I thought Devastator was the tank who bought it at Mission City like you told me!" Megatron shook his head. "No, that was Brawl. …Well, his _real_ name was Brawl. He thought it didn't sound menacing enough, so when he heard about the disappearance of the group that combined to form Devastator, he decided to use that name instead." Sarah shrugged. "Makes sense. …Wait a second, why am I wasting time on this? Megatron, we may need you to distract that thing, or at least find out what it's after." Giving a curt nod, he wasted no time in transforming and taking to the sky with great speed. Taking a closer look even as he listened to her orders, Bumblebee spotted something. "Look there, at the top of the pyramid! It's the imposter!" Looking closely, those with keen enough vision to be able to see anything at that distance were able to see that the other Megatron was indeed perched at the pyramid's apex, likely commanding Devastator. "…All right, so now we know he's here too," Sarah said. "Ratchet and Jetfire are going to be in serious trouble once they get here, if they haven't already gotten here. Regroup with them first chance you get, everybody. Sam, are you ready to go?" He shifted nervously. "I don't know… This doesn't sound even remotely safe by any definition of the word." Sarah stepped a little closer to him. "It'll be all right, Sam. I'll be with you all the way; I promise. If all else fails, I'll defend you myself."

Across the way, the imposter began an agile, leaping descent as Devastator revealed that its glowing maw was a powerful vacuum, sucking up the ancient blocks of stone to grind them into dust. "It's destroying the pyramid," Sarah said. "One of humankind's most priceless treasures…" As the blocks came away in a wind-blown vortex formed of sand, they exposed something, something ancient that hadn't seen the light of day for many thousands of years. The dull gleam of metal caught everyone's attention, and she realized what they were looking at. "The Star Harvester," she said in awe. "All this time, it's been right here… The Egyptians must have sealed it away, then gotten the idea for pyramids from its structure!" As Devastator then backed off from the ancient machinery it had just revealed, its job apparently completed, something even more mind-boggling happened.

A cascade of fiery energy a little like a miniature sun flared to brilliant life and faded just as quickly, leaving in its place a frightful black creature a little like an insect. Its glossy black body was trimmed with hellish red stripes, slender limbs moving with a swift yet deliberate grace as demonic red eyes glared forth from a face like those of the dead beings whose bodies formed the Tomb of the Twelve. The sharp contours of its face mirrored the angular lines that formed the symbol of the Decepticons. "Was it based on him?" Sarah wondered. "This is the Fallen… it _must_ be!" One hand lifted, gesturing outward, and the imposter immediately leapt forth to transform and race outward with no hesitation, leaving no doubt in anyone's mind as to how the two were connected. "My duplicate is taking orders," Megatron transmitted from the sky. "What could the Fallen possibly have promised that would make him willing to kneel before him and accept his commands?" Sarah looked up at him even as she and Sam took off running. //"Don't worry about that now. Just remember that we're all phenomenally screwed if he gets that key!"// High above, Megatron banked sharply and began a swift descent, headed straight for the Fallen. "Only a Prime can fight him, huh? Let's see how well a Prime's _brother_ can do!"

Sam and Sarah sprinted for the nearest house as a jet swooped low overhead, ducking in and closing the door behind them. "I'm receiving a transmission from Ratchet," she said in a low whisper, moving toward a window. "You see those pillars down at the other side of the village? He and Jetfire are holed up there, with everybody else providing covering fire. That's where we have to go." She paused before turning to him. "If we get separated, even though I'm hoping we won't… If we do, run for it but _be careful._" Both of them promptly shut up and ducked down as the same jet as before passed low overhead a second time, obviously still searching for the two of them. Waiting breathlessly for it to pass, they took up positions by the all too flimsy door and waited for the sound of its engines to die away as it moved on, obviously concluding that they had gone somewhere else. The minute they could no longer hear it, Sarah flung the door open and they took off running again, heading for another house, this one just a little bit closer to their goal.

Near the pyramid's top, Megatron found his swooping descent blocked by Devastator's massive form. Avoiding the titanic jaws and their powerful suction with a straight upward climb, he pulled into a backward loop and aimed for where head and neck met before pulling the same maneuver he'd used on Demolisher… Transforming in midair, he let gravity do its thing to drive his claws into the thinner armor that formed the back of Devastator's neck. Clawing, tearing and shooting, he did his level best to wreak as much havoc on his enemy's systems as he could, all the while clinging tightly as Devastator tried with all its might to shake him off. Slicing armor, ripping out wires, he held on as tight as he could as the massive form collapsed with a fading roar, either dead or just disabled; he didn't really care which. "That takes care of that," he said with a satisfied smile. Turning his attention back to his intended target, he took to the sky once again.

"And now it's _your_ turn!" Wasting no more time, he ignited his thrusters and rocketed straight toward the Fallen. Transforming in midair a second time, he let his momentum turn his dive into a powerful lunge aimed straight for his enemy's face. His having to pause to deal with Devastator had eliminated the element of surprise, but he figured it wouldn't make much of a difference. After all, the Fallen couldn't be _that_ strong if he was so slender. Clawing for his eyes, he was utterly shocked when his enemy moved at a speed he hadn't even thought possible, one unbelievably powerful hand closing over his throat and halting his charge in mid-leap. Coughing and gagging, kicking desperately, he couldn't believe it when the Fallen hauled him up one-handed, tightening his grip until no amount of wheezing could help him. This was ridiculous, it was impossible, he was supposed to be so much stronger than this… The Fallen was as slender as a child in comparison to him, but somehow he was being strangled anyway, unable to draw any air to cool his rapidly overheating systems no matter how hard he tried. "You are so pitiful," the Fallen said. "A Prime's brother is no Prime." Megatron's claws scrabbled at the hand squeezing his throat shut, trying to pry the steely fingers away so he could breathe… Pivoting, the Fallen threw him up against the side of the pyramid and pinned him there, not even so much as loosening his grip as he leaned in closer, bringing himself face to face with the former Decepticon he was choking the life out of. "Pathetic. Just pathetic." The only response Megatron could manage was to kick out feebly, desperate to break free. Disregarding the way his enemy, now his victim, still clawed at his hand, the Fallen tightened his grip further, drawing a breathless cry of pain as the comparatively thin armor covering his neck began to give way. Megatron's struggles eased off, his attempts to kick fading, his arms falling limp to his sides as his eyes swiftly began to dim. Consciousness was fading out, and life couldn't be too far behind… A long moment later, the Fallen released his grip and Megatron collapsed to land on his knees, down in a low, huddling crouch, both hands clutching at his damaged throat as he gasped and coughed. Fighting to recover as fast as he could, he raised his head to fix dim, blurry eyes on his enemy… Just in time for the Fallen to kick him right in the face. The force of it snapped his head back hard, almost enough to make him fear his neck would break, and the impact itself broke his jaw. He would have cried out in agony, but for the fact that the kick was immediately followed by a brutal full-on attack at a speed his pain-fuzzed mind couldn't comprehend, much less follow. His armor was torn, his limbs broken, his chest gouged open and so much more, and all of it so fast he couldn't even scream. An instant later he was airborne, thrown off the pyramid like so much garbage to tumble down the side and land face up in the sand. Staring up at the sky, the only thought in his mind was that humans had a word for this sort of thing. "Wow," he murmured to himself. "I just got owned."

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Holy cow, the Fallen is freaking strong, to do that to _Megatron_ of all people…

Read and review, please!


	8. The deed is done

I'm starting to wonder if anybody even cares…

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Several houses later, they had run out of places to hide. There was a wide open, exposed swath of sand between the house they were hiding in at that moment and the grouping of fallen pillars that was so obviously their goal. "Great, now what?" Sam sighed, peeking out the door. Sarah peeked out too. "I'm not sure… It looks like we'll have to try our luck with just plain running. I'll cover you as best I… _Oh!_" Sam stepped closer out of concern as she doubled over with a yelp before straightening up. "Megatron's down," she said. "He tried to take on the Fallen in Optimus's place, but all he got was a beating… a bad one." Reassured that she was fine, Same peeked out the door again. "I guess that just goes to show how much we need him." Taking up a ready position, Sarah gave him a reassuring smile. "Just run for it, all right? I'll cover your back as best I can; I promise."

Both of them shut up, listening to the sounds of battle to determine whether or not there were any Decepticons nearby. Assured that there were none nearby, Sarah threw the door open and the two took off running for the grouping of pillars that marked their goal. Side by side, they tore across the sand as fast as they could, neither one liking how exposed they were. At this point, it would be easy for pretty much any Decepticon to see them, to target them… As if to prove that point, a bolt of deadly blue fire split the air to carve a fair-sized crater in the sand behind them both, right where they had been mere microseconds before, sending half-fused sand flying in all directions and throwing them both to the ground to land flat on their faces. Spitting sand, they both got up in time to see a hulking shape roll into view past the veil of black smoke rising from the crater. A low, booming growl filled their ears. _"I found you, boy!" _The imposter transformed, lunging to his feet and charging for Sam even as the two of them took off running again. Dropping back slightly, Sarah maneuvered between Sam's fleeing backside and the oncoming threat. "Don't worry, Sam," she called over her shoulder as she turned to face the enraged duplicate. "…I've got you covered," she finished as she came to a halt.

Sheer surprise brought the imposter to a halt, staring down with malicious, hateful eyes at the tiny insect that dared to think it could stand against him. "You are either very brave or very foolish, meat sack. Count yourself lucky that I do not yet know which, for it is due to that reason alone that you still live. What do you think you can do against _me, _weak, fragile little organic _thing_ that you are?" Her lack of fear confused him and only served to anger him further as she grinned. "What can I do, you ask? To start with, I can do _this!_" She transformed even as she spoke, flexing her own claws as she lunged to meet him. Meeting her charge, he grinned evilly as he pulled her closer. "So _you_ are the form my prize chose," he said as he dodged her attempt to claw his eyes out. "I am 'honored' that the All Spark chose to take _my_ form when the boy destroyed the cube in his attempt to kill me." She flinched as he swiped his claws across her chest, gouging deeply as he went for her spark. "You're a prize worth taking… a worthy mate for the future ruler of the universe!" Striking back, she tried to take advantage of his lopsidedness by going for his weaker arm. "As long as even one single Autobot is still standing, I will _never_ be yours!" Following up a physical attack with one that most definitely wasn't physical, she lashed out with her power. "Take this!" Her power broke over him like a wave on the shoreline, seemingly not touching him in the slightest. Though her assault didn't have the effect she wanted, it had another effect, one she hadn't foreseen… "I see it now," she said as the two shuddered in perfect unison, synchronized both in mind and body. "When I first awakened to what I was, I had no control over my power… no say in what I gave power and life to. When my mate cast the darkness out of himself, it went forth into a chaotic storm of berserk All Spark energy and was given life… as _you!_" Sheer, unadulterated rage at the fact that she _dared_ to imply that he was anything other than the real deal gave him the strength to break free of her grasp on him. "How dare you, you wretched, filthy _thing! _I am no mere fluke to be dismissed as you wish. I am Megatron, the one and only, lord and master of all that I survey!" Rather than strike her, he pushed past her as she stood stunned by the backwash generated by his breaking free. _"And I shall have my revenge on the insect that dared to do _this_ to me!" _With that, he formed his cannon and took a shot at Sam's back, just as he reached his goal. Snapping back to herself just in time, Zephyr rammed into him just enough to throw his aim off slightly. Rather than vaporizing the poor boy on impact, the shot merely sent him flying straight upward like a rag doll, tumbling through the air before landing face down in the melted sand, silent and motionless. Seeing this, Zephyr gave a roar of rage worthy of Megatron himself before returning to the battle, intending to send her foe running if not simply kill him outright.

Weakly rolling over to stare up at the sky, dazedly wondering what the heck had just happened, Sam found himself slipping into what had to be a dream… In his dream, he stood upon an open plain illuminated by the gauzy, ethereal light of earliest dawn, a pale golden hue that played upon the tall, slender forms that surrounded him on all sides. There were twelve of them, these odd, graceful beings, and each of them could easily be mistaken for the Fallen, save for one thing… There was no malice in their gazes, and they seemed to radiate an aura of benevolence and wisdom, and each fluid, unhurried movement spoke of a timeless, serene grace that soothed him, calmed him. "Samuel…" He wasn't sure which one spoke his name, or if it had been all of them at once. "Twice now you have fought for a Prime, the descendant of our chosen one… Twice now you have risked death in his name." He managed a nod. "Yes, I have, but…" Twelve pairs of eyes gazed upon him, and in that moment he felt very small indeed. "One can never merely find the Matrix of Leadership. It, and the power it represents, must be earned. By your courage, your determination, your resolve, you have passed the test. We, the Dynasty of Primes as our children now know us, deem you worthy." The next words they spoke resonated in his mind. "Wake up now, Samuel…" He bolted up to a sitting position with a gasp of surprise. Quickly reaching down to where he'd dropped his precious cargo upon impact with the sand, he felt around for the fabric of the sock he'd filled with the precious dust and found, instead, the graceful, delicate artifact that spelled hope for all of them…

Zephyr and the imposter circled each other warily. She would not let him pass, and he would not let her words go unpunished, unchallenged. Both were injured but neither cared. However, they were both surprised when something black struck him in the back of the head. _"Hooligan!" _Jetfire snarled in rage as he whacked him over the head with his cane a second time, using a surprising amount of strength for someone his age. "How _dare_ you strike a lady!" Raising one arm to shield himself from any more blows, the imposter turned, his other hand morphing into the same deadly blade that had killed Optimus, and promptly ran Jetfire through. "_You old fool! _I do as I please!" Zephyr's cry of shock was quickly drowned out by Jetfire's cry of pain as the imposter wrenched his blade free, turning back to face her as the old jet collapsed behind him. He would have resumed his battle against her, but the Fallen chose that moment to command him to return. "My master calls," he snarled in no small amount of anger. "Count yourself lucky, for otherwise I would claim you as my own!" Shifting into tank form, he was gone in an instant. Zephyr didn't care as she rushed to Jetfire to kneel beside him, calling forth her power in an attempt to heal him, to save him. Failing the first time, she tried again with the same result. "I'm sorry, Jetfire… I'm sorry… Your systems are too degraded. I… I can't save you." He just smiled, looking up at her from where he had fallen, face down in the sand. "That's all right… I wouldn't ask it of you." A soft, weak chuckle escaped him. "You're a pretty one, and no mistake," he said softly. "If I was a little younger, I'd…" The sudden change in conversation topic drew a soft, nervous little giggle from her.

Slowly, gingerly standing back up, Sam held up the key. "I wasn't expecting _that_…" Looking ahead, he saw the red and blue form lying stretched out in the sand as if basking in the sun, having already been removed from the truck trailer that had previously served as a makeshift tomb. Ratchet and Jetfire had done their job, and they had done it well. They had even thought to position the body on its back, allowing for easier access to the spark chamber. "This will work. It _has_ to," he said as he climbed up the body, completely disregarding the way the sun-heated metal burned him wherever he touched it. He could deal with burns and blisters later. Holding the key as he would a small dagger, he raised it high before bringing it down, forcing it into contact with Optimus's spark chamber. A brilliant flash of blue-white light accompanied a full-body twitch that nearly dislodged Sam from his perch. He climbed down as fast as his burned hands could take him even as the previously dead Autobot leader abruptly sat up, disoriented since the last thing he remembered was fighting the imposter. "Where is he?" A quick look around showed him that he wasn't where he had been previously. Seeing Sam's small form standing beside him, he looked down. "Sam… You came back for me?" Sam nodded up at him happily. "We all did. We couldn't just _leave_ you there…" Optimus was downright moved by all this. In the face of a rising Decepticon threat, they had traveled so far and risked so much for his sake… Friendship and teamwork could apparently beat even death itself.

The relief and joy at his resurrection was so pronounced and widespread among the Autobots that they failed to notice that the Fallen had disappeared from his position atop the partially disassembled pyramid… at least until the cascade of fiery energy that had heralded his coming repeated itself in their midst, the force of it knocking the lot of them flat on their backs. "_I'll_ be taking that," he said curtly as, with a simple gesture, the key seemingly leapt from its place next to Optimus's spark chamber and into his hand. The cascade of fiery energy then repeated itself, taking him away. Sam was by Optimus's side in less than an instant, encouraging him to get back up and telling him as much about the current situation as he could in just a few sentences. The explanation wasn't a complete one in any sense of the word, but it worked well enough. As a Prime, Optimus was the only one with the remotest chance of standing up to the Fallen, who planned to use the key he'd just stolen to power the machine in the pyramid to blow up the sun and then use the power gained from its destruction to do… something. Sam wasn't sure of anything beyond the sun's destruction, but then again the rest hadn't really meant much of anything to him. "…So basically you're our only hope." Managing to get back up, but just barely, he gave a sigh. "I don't know if I can face him, Sam. Not in my current condition, anyway." And indeed he wasn't doing very well. He had been resurrected but not fully restored, and losing the key had deprived his spark of its ability to rejuvenate him. Without it, he really didn't stand much of a chance. Things looked grim at that point…

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We're getting very near the end here.

Read and review, please!


	9. On borrowed wings

Here's the big showdown, if anyone cares.

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"Well, I'll be! A living, breathing Prime!" He didn't recognize the voice as he spun to behold the elderly jet who had crawled a little bit closer, Zephyr's unmistakable form by his side. The newcomer was mortally wounded, the injury just the same as his had been, obviously from the same source, but he didn't care as he looked at Optimus. "Use me, Prime. Take my parts. I'm dying, but there may be some use for these old wings yet!" The Autobot leader balked at the thought of taking parts from a living being. Jetfire gave him a scowl, seemingly contemplating whacking him with his cane, Prime or not. "Don't sass me, son. Let me do this. I've spent so much of my life hiding out, being useless…" Reaching into the hole in his chest, he grasped his own spark chamber, drawing an alarmed cry from Zephyr, which he shrugged off. "I finally have a chance to make a real difference, and believe me, I'm _not_ going to let it pass me by!" As he spoke those last few words, he tore his spark chamber free and slumped in death even as his eyes faded to dead black, the broad smile he wore never so much as wavering even as the end came for him.

"I guess… I guess all we can do is honor his last request," Zephyr said, stepping closer to Optimus. Ratchet nodded in reply. "One quick refit, coming right up. Stand back, everybody. We're going to have flying parts in a minute or two. Zephyr, if you would…?" Nodding in return, she stepped closer still and summoned up her power, enveloping both Jetfire's lifeless form and Optimus in a haze of blue fire. The body rose from the ground and almost seemed to dissolve, disassembling itself into individual parts. Wings, armor, engines, weapons… Spiraling round and round in a blue vortex, they circled Optimus, the armor melding with his, the wings attaching to his back, behind his shoulders, the engines set in their places… Sheer power thrilled through every fiber of his newly expanded being as he looked to the sky. _I'm still here, kid, _the last remnants of the old jet's spark whispered in the back of his mind. _Let me handle the flying. You take care of the rest._

The ground beneath everyone's feet suddenly seemed to hum as the exposed metal at the tip of the partially deconstructed pyramid began to glow. "He's firing up the machine," Zephyr said. "Optimus, it eats stars. The whole human race is doomed, as are we, if it isn't stopped. Only you can do this. _Go for it!_" Optimus's thoughts momentarily turned to his brother as he spread his new wings and took to the sky for the first time. Before the war, there had been many times when Megatron had wished his brother could fly with him… Seeing the Fallen and the imposter standing near the charging machine as he soared yet higher drove the thought from his mind. Swooping in like a red and blue avenging angel, he opened fire with a number of weapons he hadn't had before, forcing the two to jump away to avoid being hit. Instead, his shots struck the still-charging machine just as he had intended them to, permanently disabling it with a loud explosion.

The Fallen gave an angry cry at his actions and shouted a quick command to the imposter, who immediately lunged to meet him. Meeting the charge with one of his own, Optimus threw the duplicate down into the ruins that lay below the pyramid before dropping down to join him there. Resuming the battle that had previously ended with his death, the Autobot leader soon discovered that his enhancements had strengthened him to the point where the imposter really stood no chance against him. A punch to the side of the face served to send the duplicate staggering backward, jaw cracked, one eye flickering. Shaking his head to clear it, the imposter lunged again, forming his blade and swinging it at Optimus's neck, intending to cut his head clean off his shoulders. He soon discovered that his speed had been drastically increased as well as he actually _caught_ the blade right in mid-swing and moved around behind his enemy, twisting his arm behind his back as far as it would go and eliciting a sharp cry of pain as his enemy's body stiffened against his. "_Ahh! _Master! Master, _help me!_" This wasn't his brother, or even what his brother had been. No, this was a crime against nature, a deformed body animated solely by anger and hate and every negative emotion a spark could hold. Against this enemy there was no need to hold back, to offer chances to surrender that would be disregarded, to extend mercy that would be scoffed at… "What did he promise you, huh?" he whispered to his enemy, twisting his arm a little more and drawing a sharper, louder cry. "What did he promise you to make you do his bidding?" He almost thought he could feel the imposter trembling in his grasp. "He… he said…" The duplicate silenced himself, as if the words he had just spoken had come forth involuntarily. "No, no…" He shook his head weakly, defiant even in his current predicament. Optimus's only real response was to apply a little more pressure. The imposter's knees buckled and he almost collapsed as his armor cracked slightly. "Master, _please!_" The question was asked again, more forcefully this time. _"What did he promise you?" _This time, the imposter answered the question. "He said… he would give me back my wings." Satisfied by the answer, Optimus loosened his grip. "You've been lied to, 'Megatron'. Only the All Spark can do that!" The imposter turned on him the moment he did so, clawing for his eyes. He repelled that attack with the same ease as the first, extending his sword as he did so. One upward swipe sliced the armor from the right side of his face, blinding him in that eye until he could get repairs, and the next severed his weaker arm right above the elbow joint. Angling the blade downward, his third stroke severed his opposite leg right above the ankle. Roaring in pain and anger, the imposter had no choice but to collapse in a heap at his feet, defeated.

It was then that the Fallen struck, having let his servant fight a losing battle in order to gauge the strength of his enemy. This was a true Prime, he decided upon watching him fight, and so he chose to attack from behind. The battle began immediately as the two fought hand to hand, soon finding that they were far more evenly matched than Optimus had been against the imposter. This wasn't good, the Fallen decided, as he was driven backward more and more. He probably wasn't going to do very well in a straight fight, so he had to find a way to cheat. A glint of silver caught his eye from off to the side. _The other one, _he realized. He'd said he was the brother of a Prime. _My opponent's brother? _He smiled to himself, though his enemy had no way to see it. The revelation had given him an idea. He could win this fight, no problem, and all he had to do was…

Optimus noticed the broken body lying off to the side at the same moment that the Fallen abruptly darted sideways, sprinting across the sand to crouch down beside the mess of splintered armor and lift it up to use as an impromptu shield, completely disregarding the soft pained cry it gave as the movement jarred broken limbs. "Back off or I'll kill him," the Fallen said as he reached into the gouged-open chest to curl his claws around the spark chamber and give a firm squeeze. The broken body howled in agony at the cruel pressure, writhing in a vain attempt to at least try to escape. "Let him go," Optimus ordered. The Fallen merely smirked at his words, but the injured one responded. Hearing the sound of his voice, it slowly turned its face toward him and squinted dim red eyes, not quite able to focus on him. Broken lips struggled to whisper his name. "…Op…Optimus…" He started in absolute horror, finally realizing just who he was looking at. _"Brother!" _A feeble smile took shape, even despite the circumstance he was in. "…You're… alive… I…" His soft words dissolved into a breathless, choked cry of utter agony as the Fallen tightened his grip. The Fallen grinned as he looked up at Optimus, paying no attention to his victim's desperate spasms. "Back off or I'll crush your brother's spark," he threatened. Optimus had never understood the human expression 'seeing red', but in that moment he gained a full understanding of its meaning. _"How dare you!" _Pushing his newly enhanced strength and speed to its limits, he forced the Fallen to release his brother's spark by grabbing him and _throwing_ him. Twisting in midair, the Fallen landed on his feet and the battle resumed.

Quite a ways behind them, the imposter struggled in vain to get back up, his broken jaw and sliced-open face slurring his cries beyond almost all comprehensibility as he roared a word, a name that had no real equivalent in any human language but could loosely be rendered as _Skyterror._ The same jet as before, the one that looked so much like Starscream, descended from the sky to land beside him and gently help him up, looping his good arm over his shoulders to better support his added weight. Standing together, the two quietly watched the fight once it returned to where they could see, Optimus swiftly beginning to gain the upper hand. It soon became obvious, to Optimus anyway, that the Fallen had beaten the real Megatron solely due to his vastly superior speed and strength. With both of those natural advantages eliminated, it also became obvious that the Fallen was actually out of practice when it came to combat. After all, it had been a long time since he'd been in a real fight, especially with a Prime.

The power of a true Prime was nothing to scoff at, it was decided, as Optimus's upper hand turned into an outright victory. The Fallen went crashing to the ground like several tons of bricks, only to find Optimus's sword aimed straight at his spark as he tried to get up. Looking around frantically, his eyes landed on the imposter where he stood with his subordinate's aid. "_Help me, _Megatron. Help me and I'll lay this universe at your feet, with all outlying dimensions besides!" The imposter remained unmoved by his plea and his promise. "No, 'master'. Your promises are empty ones. You say you will make me a god, but you can't even grant me the one thing I desire most." Incredibly, he then met Optimus's gaze. "All yours, Prime." Shaking off a moment of surprise, Optimus drove his sword down with all his strength, piercing the black spark that deserved it so much.

The imposter didn't care in the slightest as he watched his former master perish. "The war continues, Prime. I will have the All Spark, no matter what form it wears." Turning to look at his subordinate, he issued another command. "Come, Skyterror, let us be gone from here." A moment later they departed and Optimus let them go as he took to the sky one final time, to return to where the others still waited for him to return. He would check in with them first, before going to help his fallen brother. The battle was done for the day, no matter what the imposter chose to do next. Landing gracefully and striding closer to where the rest stood in awe, he paused and turned his attention inward. He could feel the happiness and satisfaction radiating from the last remaining fragments of the old jet's spark, and he paused to thank him. _Thank _you_ for granting this old soldier a chance to make a difference, _the fading fragments said to him, shrugging off his thanks without so much as a care. _Now, perhaps, I can join my old friends_… The parts that had belonged to Jetfire fell away from him to land in a heap, perfectly synchronized with the fragments finally fading away into nothingness. They had served their purpose, and so they joined the spark of their true owner in his final rest, nothing more than chunks of dead metal.

On the other side of the pyramid, someone else still marveled at the fight that had raged around him just a few moments before. _Optimus_…_ That was Optimus_…Panting quietly, Megatron, the real one, stared up at the sky. The Fallen had practically torn him apart. He'd given it his all, but that hadn't been enough. The warmth of the sun beating down on his broken armor soothed him, easing the pain of his injuries, and he sighed contentedly as his mind began to blur. His vision was darkening but he couldn't bring himself to care. Somehow, their mission had succeeded. The Fallen would be defeated if he hadn't been already, along with the imposter that had dared to mimic his face and form. A familiar voice called his name, but he barely heard it. What really drew his attention was the appearance of a face before his blurring eyes. "…Z…Zephyr…?" The smile on her face outshone the sun in his opinion as she nodded to him. "Probably wasn't… my finest moment," he coughed weakly, disregarding how his broken jaw slurred his words. Being as gentle as she could, she took his broken body into her arms. "He beat me pretty hard… for not being my brother. But then again… that's hardly anything new. Not for me." Holding him closer still, she summoned up her power. "I couldn't save Optimus the first time… Then I couldn't save Jetfire. Please, Primus, let me be able to save _you_ at least!" Sure enough, his injuries began to seal themselves up, tears in his armor closing, dents smoothing themselves out, ripped-out wires rejoining…

A few moments later he was as good as new, though fairly weak after the beating he'd received. He managed to stand with Zephyr's help, and the two of them slowly made their way around the pyramid, back to where the others waited. The smile that took shape on his face when he saw Optimus radiated unrestrained joy, further highlighting to the Autobot leader the difference between him and the imposter he had fought. Megatron looked to Zephyr momentarily and she released her grip on him. Wobbling slightly, he stood on his own for a moment before sort of stumbling closer to where the Autobot leader stood. Gazing at him for a long moment, he then looked at all the others as if reassuring himself that he was indeed in the presence of friends and that there were no enemies around… A moment later he had Optimus in a huge bear hug, holding him tight and burying his face against his shoulder. A slight tremor ran through his body as a great whiplash of emotion seized him, wrenching a single soft little sob from his throat. After spending a moment frozen in surprise at Megatron's sudden display of unrestrained emotion, Optimus slowly, hesitantly returned the hug. "It's all right, little brother," he said so softly that only Megatron could hear, comforting him. "I'm here now. I'm here."

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And that's the end of anything related to the movie itself. Next up, the aftermath and getting home. Should I start a new section for everything that comes afterward?

Read and review, please!


	10. Outward bound

A moment later he pulled back, away from his newly resurrected brother, acting as if he had done nothing. "So… uh… how do we all get home? I can fly, so can Zephyr, but how about _you? _There's a couple continents and a whole ocean between us and our base!" Taking a moment to think, Optimus came to a decision. "Much as I dislike the very idea of doing something so blatantly and obviously illegal, we are going to head to a port city and hitch a ride on a heavy freight carrier because I really have no better ideas on what to do. But as for Sam… it would be harder for him to hide. He could easily be caught, and then he'd be in deep trouble. Zephyr, would either you or Megatron be willing to…" Sam gave a loud shout, waving his arms wildly. "Hey! _Hey! _Hold it! Don't _I_ get a say in this?" They all looked down at him. "I'd much rather stay with Bumblebee, thank you, increased risk or not. No offense to either of you, Zephyr and Megatron, but I'd much rather not fly with somebody I don't know all that well." Stepping a little closer to Sam, Bumblebee weighed in as well. "Keeping him hidden from humans can't be _nearly_ as hard as keeping him hidden from Decepticons, and you know it! And besides, it doesn't seem like a good idea for us to split up for any reason, especially with those new Decepticons out there…" They all had to admit that he made a good point. Zephyr spoke up next. "And I think it'll probably be a while before it'll be safe for me to switch back to being Sarah. The imposter knows about me in both forms. I had to transform where he could see me in order to protect Sam. Of course, I turned out to not really be much of a help in the end…" Sam shook his head at that. "Oh, _come on. _From what I heard, _you're_ the reason he didn't turn my butt into a pile of charcoal! That's got to be worth _something, _doesn't it? I kind of _like_ having a butt!" Optimus silenced the argument before it could really start, turning to Zephyr in shock. "Wait a minute, you transformed where the imposter could _see_ you?" She nodded. "Sure did. It was the only thing I could do to keep him from getting Sam." Exasperation filled him. "_Great! _You could have told me earlier… _Before_ I let it slip that the All Spark's power is the only thing that could possibly give him back his jet mode!" Zephyr shrugged at that. "It isn't as though he wouldn't be coming after me anyway!"

Before they left, before anything else happened, they worked together to turn the truck trailer that had previously served as the Autobot leader's tomb into a receptacle for the fragmented remains of Jetfire. Shifting into truck form, Optimus would haul it himself. That would be how they would bring him back to their base. Once they got there, they would use the space bridge to take him back to the world he had never really gotten to experience properly, to be laid to rest with all honors, just as a hero of his stature deserved. "What a shame he never saw his homeland during peacetime," Zephyr sighed.

And thus began the journey home.


End file.
